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Fundraising – Walk-A-Thons
If you’re thinking of organizing a fundraiser that’s a little different, one where people actually have fun, why not try organizing a walk? They are certainly different and if you have some healthy people in your organization you can really make a few bucks with some generous sponsors. If you don’t know where to start when planning a walk, the following tips should give you a good idea of where to start and what’s involved.
For those of you who are thinking about a fundraiser walk because you don’t need food for the people, you better think again. Most walks are all day events and people need to eat. So plan on getting some hotdogs and other things of that nature. Even popcorn will be fine. As long as people don’t starve.
As for the walk itself, the first thing you need to do is decide where it will take place. This is usually easy and free. Any local park will work as long as it has some sort of country path that people can walk along. This is the reason why the walks are very good to carry out. They are relatively cheap.
The next thing you need to do is print what they call boosters. These are simply sheets of paper where people sign their names and enter their pledge amounts. You can ask them to make a pledge per mile walked by the person they are sponsoring or they can simply pledge a fixed amount no matter how far the person walks. You’ll find that most people these days just promise fixed amounts because they don’t want to end up with a bill of hundreds of dollars in the case of someone who is an Olympic runner. So don’t expect too many dollar-per-mile compromises.
The next thing you have to do is find people who are going to walk. This can be very difficult in organizations where the majority of members are older people. Unfortunately, these days, most people doing charity work are of legal age. So asking these people to walk many miles may be too much to ask. However, these people have relatives and probably younger ones. There’s no reason why you can’t ask some of them to participate. There is no rule that walkers have to be part of the organization itself.
And then, of course, there is the matter of snacks. If walkers are hungry or thirsty, especially thirsty, it would not be a good idea to hold this event without at least bottles of water. The last thing you want is for your walkers to get dehydrated, especially if you’re hosting the event on a hot summer day. Food is optional, but water is absolutely necessary. So make sure you have enough.
In fact, fundraising is a lot of hard work. But if you follow the tips above, there’s no reason your hike can’t be a huge success.